South Sea, Taya Kingdom.
Inside the royal prison.
“Ugh… Ugh~”
“There’s a monster…”
“Help…”
A criminal in black and white striped prison clothes suddenly collapsed, painfully lying on the ground, his right hand trembling as he reached for the cell door, desperately calling for help, his face filled with terror and despair.
But a vine on his back suddenly intensified its devouring power.
This vine was like a straw, constantly wriggling and sucking.
The prisoner’s face, body, and limbs instantly shriveled, turning into a dried corpse.
This bizarre scene added an atmosphere of fear to the dim prison.
“It’s been a month!!”
“What are these bastards doing!”
Aramaki sat on a dilapidated stone bed, a vine quickly retracted from his right hand, turning back into a finger.
He, a dignified high-ranking Royal Guard officer, was actually reduced to ‘eating people’ to survive.
However, this feeling of devouring actually made him feel a hint of pleasure.
It seemed to save him the trouble and time of eating.
But if he had a choice, he would absolutely not choose to devour these filthy prisoners.
After all, he had been eating for over thirty years, so it was a bit uncomfortable at first.
Moreover, this was ‘eating people’, which would affect his image as an officer.
“Those bastards still haven’t rescued me, I’m the Royal Guard’s ace!”
“Now they don’t even give me food, are they trying to starve me to death!?”
“Why is that woman so petty and heartless.”
As the hunger receded, Aramaki’s eyes filled with indignation, mixed with a hint of helplessness.
In his heart, he still hoped that his colleagues and superiors would rescue him.
He didn’t want to just abandon his position as a high-ranking officer, forcibly break out of prison, and become a pirate and a wanted criminal.
One must know that Aramaki had worked hard for many years for this position as a high-ranking officer.
How could he be willing to lose it just like that?
From a young age, Aramaki aspired to become a superior person, to stand at the pinnacle of power, and to trample those inferior people underfoot.
If he became a pirate, even if he dominated a region, how could he compare to the World Government that had ruled the world for eight hundred years?
Those pirate overlords and Four Emperors only dominated for twenty or thirty years at most.
In the end, they would surely be replaced by new great pirates, until their death and annihilation, without exception.
The glamorous time of these pirate overlords and pirate Emperors was even shorter than the long-lasting inheritance of those underground dark families.
Not to mention the even more ancient inheritance of royal families and nobles.
Aramaki didn’t want to become a pirate destined to be eliminated.
“Wait another month, and I’ll…”
“The limit is three months!”
“Alright, half a year is fine too, by then that woman should have calmed down…”
Aramaki repeatedly lowered his bottom line.
As long as he kept his officer position, serving another half a year in prison was barely tolerable.
At worst, he would ‘eat people’ for another half a year.
Just consider it executing these pirates and criminals for the Taya Kingdom.
Aramaki lay back on the stone bed, bored. With nothing to do, he could only start scouting which criminal to ‘execute’ for his next meal.
···
In the royal capital port of the Taya Kingdom.
King Qizhi VI led the Queen, Prince, and Princess, along with a group of nobles, to welcome the visiting Emperor of the Goa Empire.
Even though the Taya Kingdom was a leading strong affiliated nation in the South Sea, they dared not underestimate the Goa Empire, this rapidly rising new overlord of the East Blue.
The Goa Empire had defeated the North Sea Overlord Germa Kingdom, and had also completed alliances through marriage with the Germa Princess and the Dressrosa Princess, making their power increasingly vast.
The Taya Kingdom dared even less to provoke the Goa Empire.
After all, Doflamingo and Vinsmoke Judge were both notoriously ruthless individuals.
Wang Shi, who could domineeringly exile Judge and had formed a cooperation with Doflamingo, was certainly also a formidable and ruthless person not to be trifled with.
Amidst the cheers of the people and the sound of salutes, the Goa Empire’s imperial flagship, the Exile Emperor, along with a Germa snail warship and a Marine warship, entered the royal capital port.
Under the escort and protection of Clone Soldiers, Marines, Imperial Barons, and Royal Guard.
Wang Shi, holding the hands of his two Imperial Concubines, Reiju and Princess Baby, slowly walked down, the three of them exuding an aura of nobility and majesty.
“A warm welcome to King Wang Shi, Empress Reiju, and Princess Baby, visiting the Taya Kingdom.”
King Qizhi VI of Taya Kingdom, leading his wife and children, enthusiastically stepped forward to greet the three, showing the demeanor of a great nation.
At least on the surface, there was no sign of fear towards Wang Shi, the King of Exile.
“My unannounced visit, I hope King Qizhi will not take offense.”
As the saying goes, one does not hit a smiling person. Wang Shi responded very politely to King Qizhi VI’s warm greeting.
After a brief exchange of greetings and introductions, King Qizhi VI welcomed Wang Shi and his entourage into the Taya Royal Palace.
At this moment, in the ranks of the Taya nobles behind, there was a beautiful noblewoman, her gaze burning as she looked at the white back of the man holding two women’s hands.
“Is this the Emperor of the Goa Empire, King Wang Shi, whom the world calls the King of Exile?”
Shinagawa, the daughter of Harada Duke of Taya Kingdom, looked at Wang Shi’s platinum military uniform from behind, her eyes filled with admiration.
As expected of an Emperor of an empire, he was indeed more handsome and domineering than Prince Qizhi.
Even King Qizhi could not compare to Wang Shi’s nobility and majesty.
‘Only such a noble and powerful handsome man is worthy of me.’
Shinagawa fantasized in her heart, wishing she could immediately push aside Empress Reiju and Princess Baby and occupy the position beside Wang Shi.
After seeing Wang Shi, Shinagawa instantly felt that Prince Qizhi was a bit unremarkable.
As for the strongest Royal Guard officer who offended her, he was even more ugly.
She hated the thick-lipped, slovenly Aramaki; he had no aristocratic aura at all, he was simply a hooligan.
Thinking of how Prince Qizhi had personally ordered his subordinates to increase Aramaki’s punishment after learning that Aramaki had offended her, Shinagawa showed a hint of pride and triumph.
Even Prince Qizhi had fallen under her spell.
She loved the way men were infatuated with her.
Being able to toy with the kingdom’s strongest Royal Guard officer and the kingdom’s heir in the palm of her hand made Shinagawa’s heart swell with pride, and the smile on her face grew wider.
She also wanted to charm Wang Shi, the Emperor of the Empire.
She wanted to be an Imperial Concubine, she even wanted to be the Empress!
She wanted to be more noble than the Queen of the Taya Kingdom, she even wanted to be more distinguished than King Qizhi.
Shinagawa’s beautiful eyes curved, sparkling with starlight, as she officially listed the handsome and noble Wang Shi as her number one target.
As for Prince Qizhi, such a kingdom heir was no longer worthy of her current self.
Wang Shi, who was at the front of the procession, had no idea that he had become the target of a Duke’s daughter.
Moreover, this Duke’s daughter happened to be the culprit who caused Aramaki to be imprisoned.
Most importantly, even the Prince of the Taya Kingdom was exceptionally infatuated with this Duke’s daughter, which is why Aramaki was not only imprisoned but also had his food supply cut off by the prison guards.
It must be said that Aramaki was truly unlucky; one mission inadvertently offended both a Duke’s daughter and the kingdom’s heir.
If it weren’t for the World Government’s World Conscription rescuing Aramaki to recruit strong individuals,
He might not only have been imprisoned for several years but also developed the ‘man-eating’ habit of disliking food.